


Just Joking

by Renkakirai



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2019-02-18 10:01:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13097742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renkakirai/pseuds/Renkakirai
Summary: Based off the tumblr prompt: Person A asking Person B to marry them as a joke. Person B accepting, as a joke. Person A looking at venues, as a joke. Person B coordinating wedding outfits, as a joke. Person A buying rings, as a joke. Person B sending out invitations, as a joke. Person A going cake tasting, as a joke. Person B picking out the first dance song, as a joke. Person A filing for a marriage license, as a joke.Person A and B not realizing they’re actually in love with the other until about three days before the wedding. Not a joke.





	Just Joking

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Karratran](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karratran/gifts).



> Sorry this literally took me more than a year to write, Karra!!! I'm apparently really bad at specific prompts...but I love you!!! Hope you still enjoy this suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuper late prezzie~

It was the same, age old argument with them; meat or fish.

Rin peered into Haru’s bentou with a disparaging scowl.

The rest of the Iwatobi swim club, and Sousuke sat with them on picnic blankets spread out beneath blooming cherry trees.

“No wonder you can’t build any muscle with that diet,” Rin said.

He poked at Haru’s bicep, thinner and more lithe than his own.

Haru took a slow, deliberate bite of mackerel.

“Doesn’t keep me from beating you in a race.”

“Haru-chan!” Makoto scolded.

But Rin ignored the interjection, and countered, “Then how do you explain last time?”

Gou laughed.

“You two are like an old married couple!”

“Maybe one on the edge of divorce,” Sousuke said under his breath.

Nagisa ignored him and took up the subject gleefully.

“They are! They are!” he said. “Rin-chan is like the concerned wife, worrying over her husband’s health.”

“Hey!” Rin shouted. “Why am I the wife?”

“Crybaby,” Sousuke coughed.

Rin glared at him.

“You are more emotional,” Gou said.

“And more sentimental,” Nagisa said. “Haru-chan is much more like the strong, silent husband type.”

“Plus, we already know you look good in a maid’s costume,” Sousuke said.

Gou giggled.

“I swear you waited to transfer until third year just so you wouldn’t have to wear it yourself,” Rin said.

“Rin-san can’t be ‘the wife,’” Rei chimed in.

“See?” Rin said. “Haru’s shorter, and more delicate. He’d definitely be the wife!”

“Actually,” Rei said, “what I was going to say, was that since two men can’t marry here, Haruka-sempai would have to adopt Rin-san into his family register as his son to approximate the legal protections of marriage. So technically, Rin-san would be the son, not the wife.”

Rin gaped.

Gou giggled again, and Sousuke hid his amusement with a swig from his water bottle, but Nagisa burst into a fit of laughter.

“Why am I the son?” Rin shouted.

“You’re younger than Haruka-sempai,” Rei said.

Rin sputtered.

“Would you like to be my husband then, Rin?” Haru said, finally breaking his silence.

“Well, I sure as hell ain’t gonna be your kid.” Rin said.

There was a small twinkle in Haru’s eye when he next spoke, one that seldom appeared, and was easy to miss when it did.

“Then we’ll have to get married overseas,” Haru said. “Where shall it be?”

“If you want me to marry you, you’ll have to make a better proposal than that,” Rin said. “I’m not going to agree to marry you as some afterthought.”

Haru set his bentou aside, stood, and snapped off a young twig with some blooming cherry blossoms from a nearby branch. He twisted the piece into a makeshift ring, the blossoms serving as the jewel, and knelt before Rin.

“Rin,” Haru said, presenting the makeshift ring. “I know it’s not a real ring, but will you marry me?”

“It still seems kind of like an afterthought when you don’t even have a real ring, but I’ll give it a pass,” Rin said.

“Are you saying you could make a better proposal?” Haru asked.

“It’d be a hell of a lot more romantic than this,” Rin said.

“Ooh! That sounds like a challenge,” Nagisa said, egging them on. “Now it’s Rin-chan’s turn to propose.”

Sousuke sighed, burying his face in his hands.

“Fine,” Rin said. “You want a romantic proposal, I’ll give you a romantic proposal.”

Rin pulled out his cell phone, grumbling about ‘short notice’ and atmosphere,’ but with a few swipes and taps, gentle violin music wafted through the air, and Rin dropped to one knee with a satisfied grin on his face.

“Nanase Haruka,” he began, pulling Haru’s hands into his own, “I’ve known you almost my whole life, and for equally as long, I’ve been inspired and encouraged by you. You’re my rival, my goal, my friend, and it would make me the happiest man in the world, if you would also be my husband.”

Sousuke’s stared, Nagisa clung to Gou and Rei with barely suppressed squeals, be they of glee or laughter, it was hard to tell, while Makoto just blushed.

Haru pulled his hands out of Rin’s grip and took Rin’s left in his.

“Oh, alright, since you want to marry me so badly,” he said, and slipped the flower ring over Rin’s finger.

He turned back to their friends. “There, we’re engaged.”

Rin’s jaw dropped.

Haru turned back to his bentou and took a bite.

He looked back at Rin.

“Finish your lunch, dear.”

Rin wordlessly opened and closed his mouth, until Haru reached into his bentou with his own chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat, and placed it in Rin’s mouth.

Gou snapped a picture while Nagisa and Sousuke laughed, and Rei politely looked away.

They were silent for a while, eating their lunches, and enjoying the view of cloudlike, pink blossoms, when Rin spoke again.

“You know, somewhere like this would actually be a pretty nice spot for a wedding.”

There were smiles amongst the others, but Haru quietly replied, “It’ll have to be somewhere with lots of sakura.”

“So a spring wedding,” Rin said. “But it should be somewhere where you can see the ocean.”

“You sound like you’re actually getting married,” Sousuke said.

“Of course,” Haru said, taking Rin’s hand and displaying his cherry blossom ring, once again, “that’s what you do after getting engaged.”

“We’ll have to go ring shopping too, honey,” Rin said.

He pulled Haru’s hand toward him, held it against his chest, and gave an exaggerated, loving gaze into Haru’s eyes.

If there was a slight flush to his face as he did so, no one mentioned it.

***

Rin stepped out of the shower, toweling off his hair after his morning run, and almost jumped as his phone made a loud, almost honking, noise as it vibrated on the counter.

When he unlocked it, he was greeted with a picture of blooming sakura, and a caption that read ‘how about here?’

Instead of answering the question, he replied with “What are you even doing up?”

Haru wasn’t as hard to wake in the morning as some people he knew, namely a certain small blond with a sweet tooth, but usually, if he was awake, he’d be in the tub right about now, not....wherever that photo had been taken.

Rin’s phone buzzed again.

“Dry training,” it read, “So?”

“’So?’ what?” he replied.

Rin’s phone buzzed again and several more pictures popped up.

The pictures showed more sakura trees along a bluff overlooking the ocean, another, a small temple.

When he scrolled to the bottom, the caption just said ‘for our wedding.’

Rin smiled and replied, “guess that means I’m in charge of the invitations.”

“k,” Haru replied. “Let’s make it next April. I’ll book it.”

Rin wasn’t quite sure if Haru was kidding or not. It was hard to tell face to face, and even harder through text.

It was a nice spot for a wedding though.

***

“Nice Ring,” Sousuke said. “Nanase give it to you?”

“Yeah,” Rin laughed. “He said it’s a substitute for the sakura ones, since they won’t last.”

“Gay,” Sousuke said, drawing out the vowel until it seemed like he’d run out of breath.

“We’re not gay. It’s just a joke,” Rin said.

“Yeah, ‘cause me and all my totally straight, no homo best friends and I have matching engagement rings too,” Sousuke said. “Oh wait. Where’s ours, Rin?”

“Shut up! You were there. You saw what happened. It doesn’t mean anything,” Rin said.

“Yeah,” Sousuke said, glancing down at the box of cards in Rin’s hand, “that’s why you’re picking out wedding invitations.”

“It’s just a joke!” Rin repeated. “I’m getting mom a birthday card anyway. These just happened to be here too.”

“Alright man, if you say so,” Sousuke said. “Just know if you need someone to walk you down the aisle at your wedding, I’m free.”

“Why does everyone keep acting like I’d be the bride?” Rin asked.

Sousuke just shrugged.

***

“I got something in the mail the other day,” Gou said.

An amused grin appeared on her face, and Rin knew immediately what that “something” had been.

“He said I wouldn’t go through with it,” Rin said. “He practically dared me. How was I supposed to say no?”

“And dares must always be accepted,” Gou said. “Heaven forbid a grown man, Olympic athlete in training, turn down such a sacred things as a, what did you call it? ‘Practically a dare?’”

“You weren’t there,” he said.

“Don’t need to be,” Gou said. “It was Haruka-sempai. That’s enough explanation.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rin asked.

Gou pointedly stared down at the ring adorning Rin’s finger.

“He already bought it! What was I supposed to do?” Rin asked.

Gou reached out and ruffled his hair. “So helpless, oniichan! At least, against Haruka-sempai…”

The twinkle in her eyes set Rin on the defensive.

“He found a venue,” Rin said.

“I know,” Gou said. “It looks like it’ll be a beautiful ceremony.”

“Don’t laugh,” Rin said.

“I’m not laughing. Why would I laugh at two people who love each other deciding to share that love in a small ceremony with a few friends and family members?”

“It’s not like that,” Rin said.

“Oh yeah, so _that_ ’s the weird part,” Gou said. “But I’m not laughing. I won’t laugh.”

She paused a moment to look again at the invitations. They front was a water color scene of the ocean sakura trees on both sides of the card, framing the scene, ‘You’re invited,’ written in gold calligraphy.

“It’s funny though,” Gou said, still looking at the invitation, “how so many things that are just so _you two_ keep popping up. Maybe you’re meant to be.”

“You guys just don’t know how to take a joke,” Rin said.

He glanced at his watch, and grumbled something about being late, and not wanting mackerel flavored cake.

“If you’re worrying about the cake tasting,” Gou said, “Makoto-senpai found a very highly recommended place, so I don’t think you have to worry about anything weird at your wedding.”

“You _would_ know about everything,” Rin said.

Gou giggled, and they said their goodbyes.

***

Rin managed not to be late for their cake tasting.

Nagisa had stared at him, slack jawed, when he had originally said cake tasting was unnecessary for a joke.

“Come on! You get to eat free cake!” Nagisa had said, “If you’re gonna be fake engaged and not even take advantage of the free cake, you might as well just be real engaged and have a horrible cakeless wedding.”

“Rin doesn’t like sweets,” Haru had reminded him, upon which, Nagisa had graciously agreed to be fake engaged to Haru in his stead, and fake engaged to them all by turns, just for the cake part.

Rin had felt a curious tightening of his chest at that thought.

Nagisa would surely plaster himself all over Haru, probably even going as far as kissing him, to make a convincing engaged couple.

Nagisa was affectionate with everyone, but somehow, Rin still didn’t like that idea. If Haru wanted to get a wedding cake that badly, Rin would brave the sweets.

When he arrived, Haru was waiting in front of the bakery, peering through the big glass window at all the desserts.

His back was to Rin, but he could see his reflection in the window, eyes slightly wider than usual, appraising the artistry of the cakes with pleasure.

When he turned around, Rin caught the sparkle in his eyes, and his breath caught a little.

“Ready?” he asked, gesturing toward the door.

Haru nodded wordlessly, took his hand, and pulled him inside the shop.

***

 For a gruff, muscular man, Rin could be really cute.

Haru had forewarned the pâtissier that Rin was not fond of overly sweet desserts, so when Haru fed him his first bite of cake, the look of surprise and delight on his face could hardly be described as anything other than adorable.

“Are you laughing at me?” Rin asked, still licking cream from his lips.

“No,” Haru said, popping a bite of cake into his own mouth to hide the tiny smile he couldn’t help his lips from forming.

“You are!” Rin said. “You’re laughing at me.”

“You’re just cute,” Haru said.

He’d been caught. He might as well come out with what he’d been thinking. They were supposed to be engaged anyway, so anything bordering on excess affection on his part could easily be attributed to his role of fiancé.

Rin sputtered and turned red, which only made him look cuter in Haru’s eyes, but he had the grace to turn to the shop attendant and ask about the next cake sample.

“This one is a sakura flavored cake,” the attendant explained. “Since you two are considering a spring wedding, it will suit the occasion perfectly, and the flavor is light and refreshing.”

Haru opted to hand Rin a fork with a small bite of cake on it this time, instead of feeding him.

Rin’s reaction had been a little too cute. If he wanted to be able to stop smiling, he wouldn’t be able to take much more of that.

He took his own bite of cake and wondered what it would be like to see Rin’s reactions like that every day; what would their life together be like if they were actually getting married.

“This one,” Rin said, breaking Haru from his reverie. “This one is us.”

Haru glanced at the sample Rin was referring to.

It was the sakura cake.

It was indeed very them.

***

“I feel like we’re on that one wedding dress show, where they try on all the dresses and the best friend and mother of the bride hate the dress the bride likes and she cries in the dressing room about never finding the perfect dress!” Nagisa rambled excitedly, “Rin-chan would definitely cry if we insulted his favorite dress.”

Haru hid a smile, and Sousuke outright chuckled.

“I would _not_!” Rin said. “And besides, we’re not getting dresses. We’re getting suits. And the only reason you guys are here is to back me up when _someone_ tries to pick out some weird sea creature pattern for the pocket squares or something.”

Haru huffed.

“See?” Rin said.

“It would be a little informal for a wedding,” Makoto said sheepishly.

“You can save that for your underwear pattern,” Gou stage whispered.

“Gou!” a very red Rin shouted.

“What? He’s going to be my brother-in-law,” Gou said. “It’s not like I’m trying to hit on him.”

“It’s a joke wedding,” Rin reminded her.

She raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing.

“I found it!” Rei exclaimed, emerging from a rack of sample suits. “The perfect suit to suit Rin-san! Look at these lines!”

He thrust the suit towards Rin.

“Try it on,” He said.

Rin went to change, while Rei dug through more racks to find an equally perfect suit for Haru.

It didn’t take him long, and Haru went off to change too.

When Rin reemerged, everyone agreed it was the perfect suit.

“It will have to be tailored, of course,” Rei said, “to bring out the full beauty of your frame.”

Rin froze mid nod of agreement though when Haru appeared from the dressing room beside him.

“Rei-chan, you should quit your job and become a wedding planner,” Nagisa said.

Rin couldn’t help but agree.

He thought he looked pretty damn good in the suit he was wearing, if he did say so himself, but Haru somehow looked ethereal.

He didn’t know how he managed it. It was just a suit. A suit in a non-traditional dark navy that somehow brought out the blue of Haru’s eyes until he felt like he might literally drown in them, but it was just a suit, on his friend, just his friend who he was having a wedding with, a joke wedding.

“You look good,” Haru said, snapping him out of his reverie.

“Yeah, um, you too,” he replied.

“These are the ones,” Gou said.

Everyone else nodded.

***

“So can we talk about earlier,” Gou asked, catching Rin as they all separated.

“What about earlier?” Rin asked.

“Oh you know, just the besotted gaze you were pointing at Haruka-sempai,” she said, mimicking a casual tone.

“I’m not besotted,” Rin said. “He’s my friend, and it’s a joke.”

“You’re spending a lot of time and money on a joke,” she said.

“It’s not _that_ much,” he said.

“Oniichan, did you see the price of those suits? Do you know how much Haruka-sempai spent on the rings? How much did you guys spend on a cake? How long did it take you to coordinate to actually go cake tasting? Aren’t you investing a lot in this?”

“It’s just a joke between friends,” Rin said.

“Yeah? Would you do this much if it was a joke between you and Makoto-sempai, or Nagisa, or Rei, or even Sousuke?”

“That’s different.”

“Yeah? How? How is it different?” Gou asked.

“I’m not like that with those guys,” Rin said. “What Haru and I have is…different.”

“It’s called love, oniichan. You’re in love with Haruka-sempai, and I think he’s in love with you too, so you might as well cut the crap and just admit it to each other.”

“I— He’s not— We’re not—”

“Well, I don’t know for sure oniichan,” Gou said. “Only you know how you really feel, and there’s only one way to find out how Haruka-sempai really feels.”

“H—how’s that?” Rin asked.

“Ask him.” Gou said. “Before it’s too late, and you have a sad joke wedding, and then find out, and your overly romantic heart makes you spend all this time and money doing it all over again. Jeez! You could invest this toward my education!”

***

Makoto picked up his phone on the first ring.

“I did it,” he said.

“And?”

He sighed.

“I don’t know. He didn’t really explain. He’s always kind of kept things to himself.”

“What about your best friend super powers? What are they telling you?”

“I mean, I can’t be sure, but…”

“Well?”

“I think he actually means it,” Makoto said, “but he doesn’t wanna push. He’s never really cared about romantic things, or shown any interest in anyone, well, besides Rin, so I think he’s taking this as his only chance.”

“They’re idiots, aren’t they?”

“They’ve both got a little water on the brain, yeah,” Makoto laughed.

“Will they be alright?”

“We can only watch and hope,” he said. “No matter what kind of weird misunderstandings they have, eventually they always find their way back to each other.”

***

It was the day of the wedding.

The shrine they had found to conduct the ceremony looked out though sakura laden branches on an almost impossibly blue ocean.

The decorations were simple and tasteful.

A passerby would have called in an ideal wedding.

If they had lingered, they may have noticed the tense atmosphere amongst those attending.

It was a Buddhist ceremony, and as such, there was no “speak now or forever hold your peace” bit, only tense silence amongst the guests.

The grooms too, were serious throughout the ceremony, only bowing and speaking as instructed.

When it was over, they were all invited to step into the courtyard, where their small reception would take place.

Once outside though, Rin broke into a grin, and even Haru’s lips curved into a smile.

All eyes were on them, but Rin still tapped his fork against his champagne glass, signaling he was about to speak.

“Thank you all for coming,” he began, “I know a few of you were a little concerned about what we were doing here today.”

He pointedly stared at his sister, then to Makoto.

“There have been suggestions that it might be a bit much, spending all this time and money to have a wedding as a joke. Well, I’d like to say to everyone here, just kidding!”

His statement was met with silence.

“What he means is, this is no longer a joke wedding,” Haru said. “This is real.”

“We’re gonna do the actual paperwork in Australia,” Rin said, “on our honeymoon. ‘Cause there’s no way I’m letting this guy adopt me.”

“Who wants such an old son anyway?” Haru huffed.

“Wait!” Gou shouted, “When did this happen?”

Rin blushed. “Like, last night.”

“And you didn’t tell me?!”

“I just told you!” Rin said.

“With everyone else. I’m your sister!”

“I mean, if it helps, you and your co-conspirator kinda made us realize everything,” Rin said.

Makoto hid his face in his hands.

“I already knew.” Haru said, barely audible.

Before Gou could retort again, Nagisa stood.

“I propose a toast!” he shouted. “I’d just like to say, get it, Haru-chan! Get it, Rin-chan!”

“Nagisa!” Rei scolded, pulling him back into his seat.

Gou shook her head.

“I second that, Nagisa,” she said, laughter creeping into her voice, “Get it, oniichan! Get it, Haruka-sempai.”

“Yeah, I don’t think you have to tell them,” Sousuke said, blushing and looking away.

“I didn’t mean now!” Nagisa said, causing the kissing couple to pull apart. “At least wait until after the cake.

After they had all been served their cake, Nagisa seemed not to mind that the two of them were spending more time tasting each others’ lips than their own slices, and no one else seemed to mind either.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to anyone who actually got though this ><;


End file.
